Comic Trio: Difference between revisions
m
clean up
m (update links) |
m (clean up) |
||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
Line 13:
Often the [[Only Sane Man]] resigns himself to his position of powerlessness, even [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] to comment on the hopeless situation. This kind of third man orten becomes a [[Deadpan Snarker]] to deal with their inevitable and repeated doom, and is the most likely to remain calm as the car plummets to its doom.
That's the
The most common set-up is for the navigator to be a [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] and incompetent [[Schemer]] whose schemes always backfire, but there are other ways to do it.
Line 24:
== Trope Maker ==
* [[The Three Stooges]] may have been the original
* The [[Marx Brothers]] (Groucho, Chico and Harpo) became this as well a bit later in the 1930s when Zeppo left the group.
Line 37:
== Comic Books ==
* Comic subversion: Jeff Smith's ''[[Bone]]''. While it may seem that the Bone cousins each fill the workings of the
* Played with in [[Planetary]]: Elijah Snow is eager to discover the secret history of the world {{spoiler|and fight The Four.}}, Jakita Wagner generally follows him because it stops her from getting bored, and The Drummer usually recognizes that it's dangerous but he's too crazy to make his case clearly (and they wouldn't listen if he did).
Line 74:
* Later seasons of ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|Mash]]'' have one in the form of Hawkeye (bizarre one), B.J. (the one who goes along), and Winchester (the smart one). Earlier seasons had the first two roles covered, but no one else at the 4077th was smart/sane enough to see what was coming (except for Radar on occasion).
* ''[[Top Gear]]'' has a lot of shuffling with this, although Jeremy's usually the schemer, with Richard and James trading off on the stupid/going along with it and the helpless.
* In a few episodes of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' such as "Tall Tales" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me," Sam, Dean, and Bobby transition from a [[Power Trio]] to a
* The guys and the girls of ''[[Coupling]]'' tend to split off into separate comic trios. Specifically, Susan and Steve tend to be the sensible ones, whilst Patrick and Sally are the ditzy navigators, and Jeff and Jane are basically nuts.
* The Tanner sisters from ''[[Full House]]''. Michelle is definitely the naïvely used one, but while DJ takes charge, she's pretty much the [[Only Sane Man]]. Stephanie is quite intelligent, but is more of a [[Ditzy Genius]] who makes things crazier by going along with DJ (often to her annoyance). In the end, both often share the blame for what happens. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] once where they were called "the Three Stooges in pantyhose".
Line 81:
* ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm]]'': Shane is the leader, Dustin is more laid back than dumb, and Tori is "the responsible one".
* In ''[[The Office]]'', Michael, Dwight and Jim often act as this with Michael being the leader, Dwight being the blindly obedient one and Jim being the only one with sense, particularly evident when they team up in the 'Branch Wars' episode. Ironically, in another episode of that season Dwight acts as the smart man while Michael blindly obeys (and misinterprets) the directions of his GPS, driving directly into a clearly visible lake.
** Also the trio who start the Michael Scott Paper Company in Season Five. Michael is once again the leader. Ryan is usually the guy who follows
* ''[[30 Rock]]'' loves this. See:
** The Tracy Jordan Entourage. Tracy is the unstable leader, [[Dot Com]] is the smart and powerless guy, Grizz is the enabler.
Line 88:
** One could also make a case with Jack as the leader, Jonathan as the follower, and Liz as the smart one, but Jack also tends to be right.
* The Gang in ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' shuffle roles around many episodes, but Mac, Dennis and Charlie are the most common trio. Dee, Artemis and The Waitress are the [[Distaff Counterpart]].
* The [[Stella
Line 106:
== Web Comics ==
* Subverted in ''[[Achewood]]'' with the three cats who started out as a real Comic Trio, but after some character development: Ray is the navigator (a subversion since his plans, no matter how insane, ALWAYS work out), Beef follows Ray's lead (he's a manic depressive with passivity to a
* ''[[Freefall]]'' plays Sam as the Schemer, Helix as the Follower, and Florence as the Sane (Wo)Man. Alternatively, Florence or Sawtooth play sane men to Qwerty and Dvorak.
* [[Two Guys and Guy]] typically has Guy as the leader/navigator, Frank the idiot/driver (though he enables the situation through his apathy rather than his ignorance), and Wayne the complainer/backseat, though the roles can shift depending on the joke.
Line 154:
* ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'' is a strange example as Jimmy is the schemer, Sheen goes along but the role of the voice of reason depends on the episode. If it's just Carl with them, then he's the powerless sense of reason. If Cindy and Libby come along though then those two (especially Cindy) are the voice of reason while Carl becomes just another follower.
* ''[[Megas XLR]]'': Coop is the schemer. If he wants to do something, he will, and in his way. Jamie usually complies with a fist bump and horns of rocks. Kiva lets Coop know that what he's planning won't work, but to no avail.
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'' is a good example. [[Enfante Terrible|Mandy
* Gorillaz had this during the Plastic Beach/ Phase 3 story arc. [[Crazy Awesome|Murdoc]] is an amoral, insane mastermind, Cyborg Noodle follows (in all fairness she's a robot and most likely has no sense or what's right and wrong), and [[Extreme Doormat|2D]] -who's become surprisingly more intelligent since being kidnapped- constantly snarks at and criticizes Murdoc but can't really do anything without getting [[Curb Stomp Battle|the crap beaten out of him]]. The example at the top of the page is used almost exactly during the video for Stylo (only the leader is driving instead of the follower), in which Murdoc actually ''does'' drive like a madman whilst 2D slumps back in his seat, [[Face Palm|running his hands over his face]].
|